Semiconductor apparatus and semiconductor system including the semiconductor apparatus

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor system according to an embodiment includes: a semiconductor system including a normal memory cell array and a redundancy memory cell array for repairing a defective cell among memory cells within the normal memory cell array, and configured to output to an external a fail flag generated according to a number of fail bits within read data output from the redundancy memory cell array; and a host configured to store an address corresponding to the read data into a selected register group from among a plurality of register groups, the selected register group being matched to the fail flag.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) toKorean application number 10-2019-0043912, filed on Apr. 15, 2019, inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety as set forth in full.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

Various examples of embodiments of the present disclosure generallyrelate to a semiconductor circuit and, more particularly, to asemiconductor apparatus and a semiconductor system including thesemiconductor apparatus.

2. Related Art

A semiconductor apparatus may include a normal memory cell array and aredundancy memory cell array.

Through a test process, a semiconductor apparatus may detect a normalmemory cell (hereinafter, referred to as a defective cell) that cannotbe utilized and may store, into a separate storage apparatus, an address(hereinafter, referred to as a defective address) for accessing thedefective cell.

Among redundancy memory cells, utilized may be redundancy memory cellssatisfying a particular condition, for example, a condition capable ofError Correction Code (ECC) correction.

Since the redundancy memory cells have an important role to replace thenormal memory cells, it is important to more effectively and relativelymanage the redundancy memory cells thereby increasing reliability anddurability of a semiconductor apparatus.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a semiconductor system mayinclude: a semiconductor apparatus including a normal memory cell arrayand a redundancy memory cell array for repairing a defective cell amongmemory cells within the normal memory cell array, and configured tooutput to an external a fail flag generated according to a number offail bits within read data output from the redundancy memory cell array;and a host configured to store an address corresponding to the read datainto a selected register group from among a plurality of registergroups, the selected register group being matched to the fail flag.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a semiconductor apparatusmay include: a normal memory cell array; a redundancy memory cell arrayfor repairing a defective cell among memory cells within the normalmemory cell array; a fail information control circuit configured togenerate information on a number of fail bits within read data outputfrom a memory cell within the redundancy memory cell array; a registerarray including a plurality of register groups; and a test circuitconfigured to store write data into the memory cell within theredundancy memory cell array, configured to control the memory cellwithin the redundancy memory cell array to output the read data, andconfigured to store an address corresponding to the read data into aselected register group from among the plurality of register groups, theselected register group from among the plurality of register groupscorresponding to the information on the number of fail bits within theread data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects and embodiments are described in conjunction with theattached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a semiconductor system in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a register array illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a fail information control circuit illustrated in FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example ofconfigurations of a fail bit counter and a counting signal correctioncircuit illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram illustrating a representation of an exampleof an operation of a fail bit counter illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of afail flag output scheme in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a representation of an example of amethod of managing a redundancy memory cell in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of amethod of background write and scan of a redundancy memory cell arrayillustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of afail flag output scheme illustrated in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a semiconductor system in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, a semiconductor apparatus according to the presentdisclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings through examples of embodiments.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide asemiconductor apparatus capable of effectively and reliably manage andutilize redundancy memory cells and a semiconductor system including thesemiconductor apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a semiconductor system in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the semiconductor system 100 may include a host 200 and asemiconductor apparatus 300.

The semiconductor apparatus 300 may include a normal memory cell array301, a redundancy memory cell array 302, a fail information controlcircuit 303, a one-time programmable (OTP) memory 304 and input/outputpads 305.

The redundancy memory cell array 302 may include redundancy memory cellseach configured to repair a memory cell (hereinafter, referred to as adefective cell) that cannot be utilized among memory cells of the normalmemory cell array 301.

The fail information control circuit 303 may generate a counting signalby counting a number of fail bits through comparison between write dataand read data per an address. The fail information control circuit 303may generate a corrected counting signal by correcting the countingsignal.

Write data provided to the fail information control circuit 303 may havea predetermined pattern (e.g., 0 or 1) for a test. The word“predetermined” as used herein with respect to a parameter, such as apredetermined pattern, means that a value for the parameter isdetermined prior to the parameter being used in a process or algorithm.For some embodiments, the value for the parameter is determined beforethe process or algorithm begins. In other embodiments, the value for theparameter is determined during the process or algorithm but before theparameter is used in the process or algorithm.

Read data provided to the fail information control circuit 303 may beread per an address from the redundancy memory cell array 302.

The fail information control circuit 303 may reset remaining bits otherthan a most significant bit having a value of ‘1’ among a plurality ofbits of the counting signal and output, as the corrected countingsignal, the counting signal including the reset bits, which will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 6.

The OTP memory 304 may include an electrical fuse (e-fuse) array suchthat it is possible to perform a repair operation after packaging of thesemiconductor apparatus 300 as well as before packaging of thesemiconductor apparatus 300.

The OTP memory 304 may store, into the electrical fuse array, an addressfor accessing a normal memory cell (i.e., a defective cell) that cannotbe utilized within the normal memory cell array 301.

The input/output pads 305 may include data input/output pads DQ.

The host 200 may include a register array 201.

For example, the host 200 may be a test equipment. The host 200 mayprovide the semiconductor apparatus 300 with a command, an addressand/or write data. The host 200 may determine pass/fail of a normalmemory cell and/or a redundancy memory cell, which corresponds to anaddress, according to read data output from the semiconductor apparatus300.

The host 200 may store a read address into a register group, which ismatched to a fail flag, among a plurality of register groups of theregister array 201. In an embodiment, the host 200 may store a readaddress into a register group selected from a plurality of registergroups of the register array 201. In an embodiment, the fail flag mayindicate which register group should be selected among the plurality ofregister groups by the register array 201 to store an addresscorresponding to a number of failed bits in the read data RDATA. In anembodiment, the register group that is selected may be referred to asthe selected memory group.

The read address may be provided, together with a read command for scanof the redundancy memory cell array 302, to the semiconductor apparatus300 from the host 200 in a test operation.

The fail flag may define a number of fail bits according to a timingwhen the fail flag is generated, which will be described later.

The counting signal, the corrected counting signal and the fail flag maybe utilized as information about a number of fail bits of the read data.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a register array illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the register array 201 may include a plurality ofregisters. The plurality of registers may be divided into a plurality ofregister groups, that is, a first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m to a(n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m.

A greater number of fail bits in read data may represent that redundancymemory cells corresponding to read addresses corresponding to the readdata have lower reliability. A smaller number of fail bits in read datamay represent that redundancy memory cells corresponding to readaddresses corresponding to the read data have higher reliability.

Therefore, according to the fail flag, the host 200 may distinctivelystore the corresponding addresses into the first register group REG 1-1to REG 1-m to the (n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m.

Here, a number of fail bits defined by the fail flag may correspond toan ascending order of the first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m to the(n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m.

That is, the host 200 may store read addresses of greater number of failbits into the first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m to the (n-1)^(th)register group REG n-1 to REG n-m in an ascending order of the firstregister group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m to the (n-1)^(th) register group REGn-1 to REG n-m.

For example, when any fail bit is not counted or a smallest number offail bits are counted in a read data, corresponding read addresses maybe sequentially stored in the first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m.

Sequentially stored in the second register group REG 2-1 to REG 2-m maybe read addresses, fail bits of which are counted by relatively greaternumbers in the read data than the read addresses stored in the firstregister group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m.

In the similar way, sequentially stored in the (n-1)^(th) register groupREG n-1 to REG n-m may be read addresses, fail bits of which are countedby greatest numbers in the read data.

The host 200 may determine the reliability (i.e., operation performance)of a redundancy memory cell according to a location where acorresponding address is stored among the first register group REG 1-1to REG 1-m to the (n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m of theregister array 201.

When it is decided to repair the normal memory cells, the host 200 maypreferentially utilize the addresses stored in the first register groupREG 1-1 to REG 1-m. When all the addresses stored in the first registergroup REG 1-1 to REG 1-m are utilized, the host 200 may then utilize theaddresses stored in the second register group REG 2-1 to REG 2-m to the(n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m in an ascending order ofthe register groups.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a fail information control circuit illustrated in FIG.1.

Referring to FIG. 3, the fail information control circuit 303 mayinclude a comparison circuit 310, a fail bit counter 320 and a countingsignal correction circuit 330.

The comparison circuit 310 may generate a comparison result signal IN bycomparing read data RDATA with write data WDATA.

The write data WDATA may have a predetermined pattern (e.g., all ‘0’ orall ‘1’) known to both of the host 200 and the semiconductor apparatus300 and thus the semiconductor apparatus 300 may generate by itself thewrite data WDATA by utilizing a level of power supply voltage or a levelof ground voltage.

The comparison circuit 310 may perform an XOR operation and may include,for example, XOR logic. The XOR logic may be implemented as hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. For example, theXOR logic may be a XOR logic circuit operating in accordance with analgorithm and/or a processor executing XOR logic code.

The XOR logic may compare the read data RDATA with the write data WDATAon a bit-by-bit basis. The XOR logic may output the comparison resultsignal IN having a low level when the read data RDATA is the same as thewrite data WDATA and may output the comparison result signal IN having ahigh level when the read data RDATA is not the same as the write dataWDATA.

The high level of the comparison result signal IN may representoccurrence of a fail bit due to abnormality of a correspondingredundancy memory cell.

The fail bit counter 320 may generate a counting signal A<0:K> bycounting the comparison result signal IN.

The counting signal correction circuit 330 may reset, to a low level,remaining bits other than a most significant bit having a high levelamong a plurality of bits of the counting signal A<0:K> and output, asthe corrected counting signal Q<0:K>, the counting signal including thereset bits.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example ofconfigurations of a fail bit counter and a counting signal correctioncircuit illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 is a timing diagramillustrating a representation of an example of an operation of a failbit counter illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 provides, for example, the fail bit counter 320 and the countingsignal correction circuit 330 configured to generate the counting signalA<0:K> of 6 bits (i.e., A<0:5>, K=5) and the corrected counting signalQ<0:K> of 6 bits (i.e., Q<0:5>, K=5), respectively.

Referring to FIG. 4, the fail bit counter 320 may include a plurality ofunit counters 321 to 326.

The plurality of unit counters 321 to 326 may be configured to generatethe counting signal A<0:5> by counting the comparison result signal INor outputs A0, A1, A2, A3 and A4 of a counter of a previous turn.

Referring to FIG. 5, the fail bit counter 320 may sequentially togglethe counting signal A<0:5> from a least significant bit A0 by binarilycounting a pulse of the comparison result signal IN.

For example, at a time point when seven (7) fail bits are counted amongthe pulses of the comparison result signal IN, the counting signalA<0:5> may have a value of ‘111000’.

The counting signal correction circuit 330 may include a plurality ofinverters 331-1 and 332-1 to 332-6, a plurality of NAND gates 331-2 to331-6 and a plurality of AND gates 333-1 to 333-4.

A first inverter 333-1 may invert a value of a bit A5 within thecounting signal A<0:5> and may output the inverted value as a value of asignal B5.

A second inverter 332-1 may invert the value of the signal B5 and mayoutput the inverted value as a value of a bit Q5 within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>.

A first NAND gate 331-2 may perform a NAND operation on values of thesignal B5 and a bit A4 within the counting signal A<0:5> and may outputa result of the NAND operation as a value of a signal B4.

A third inverter 332-2 may invert the value of the signal B4 and mayoutput the inverted value as a value of a bit Q4 within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>.

A first AND gate 333-1 may perform an AND operation on the values of thesignal B4 and the signal B5 and may output a result of the AND operationas a value of a signal C1.

A second NAND gate 331-3 may perform a NAND operation on the values ofthe signal C1 and a bit A3 within the counting signal A<0:5> and mayoutput a result of the NAND operation as a value of a signal B3.

A fourth inverter 332-3 may invert the value of the signal B3 and mayoutput the inverted value as a value of a bit Q3 within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>.

A second AND gate 333-2 may perform an AND operation on the values ofthe signal B3 and the signal C1 and may output a result of the ANDoperation as a value of a signal C2.

A third NAND gate 331-4 may perform a NAND operation on the values ofthe signal C2 and a bit A2 within the counting signal A<0:5> and mayoutput a result of the NAND operation as a value of a signal B2.

A fifth inverter 332-4 may invert the value of the signal B2 and mayoutput the inverted value as a value of a bit Q2 within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>.

A third AND gate 333-3 may perform an AND operation on the values of thesignal B2 and the signal C2 and may output a result of the AND operationas a value of a signal C3.

A fourth NAND gate 331-5 may perform a NAND operation on the values ofthe signal C3 and a bit A1 within the counting signal A<0:5> and mayoutput a result of the NAND operation as a value of a signal Bl.

A sixth inverter 332-5 may invert the value of the signal B1 and mayoutput the inverted value as a value of a bit Q1 within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>.

A fourth AND gate 333-4 may perform an AND operation on the values ofthe signal B1 and the signal C3 and may output a result of the ANDoperation as a value of a signal C4.

A fifth NAND gate 331-6 may perform a NAND operation on the values ofthe signal C4 and a bit A0 within the counting signal A<0:5> and mayoutput a result of the NAND operation as a value of a signal B0.

A seventh inverter 332-6 may invert the value of the signal B0 and mayoutput the inverted value as a value of a bit Q0 within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>.

As described above with reference to FIG. 4, when the counting signalA<0:5> has a value of ‘111000’, the logics of the counting signalcorrection circuit 330 may output the corrected counting signal Q<0:5>having a value of ‘001000’ by resetting, to a value of ‘0’, theremaining bits A0, A1, A3 to A5 other than the most significant bit A2having a value of ‘1’ within the value of ‘111000’.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of afail flag output scheme in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, thesemiconductor apparatus 300 may provide the host 200 with the fail flagaccording to the corrected counting signal Q<0:K> described withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The semiconductor apparatus 300 may provide the host 200 with the failflag through the data input/output pads DQ.

The semiconductor apparatus 300 may include the fail flag as a piecewithin each data of a burst length BL (e.g., BL0, BL1 and BL2 to BLn,n=5), the data being output through one (e.g., DQ0) among the datainput/output pads DQ.

The corrected counting signal Q<0:K> may be utilized as the fail flag.

FIG. 6 provides, for example, the bits A0 to A5 of the counting signalA<0:K> (K=5) matched to the data BL0 to BL5, respectively.

The counting signal A<0:5> may have two or more bits having a value of‘1’ according to a number of fail bits. Therefore, an identificationprocess of the host 200 may be complicated when the counting signalA<0:5> itself is included as the fail flag into the data BL<0:5>corresponding to the input/output pad DQ0.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, by utilizingthe counting signal correction circuit 330 described with reference toFIG. 5, the corrected counting signal Q<0:5> may be included as the failflag into the data BL<0:5> corresponding to the input/output pad DQ0 andmay be provided to the host 200, the corrected counting signal Q<0:5>being a result of resetting, to a value of ‘0’, remaining bits otherthan a most significant bit having a value of ‘1’ among a plurality ofbits of the counting signal A<0:5>.

The bit Q0 may represent a binary number ‘2⁰’ and the bit Q0 having ahigh level may be included into the data BL0 to define occurrence of asingle fail bit.

The bit Q1 may represent a binary number ‘2¹+2⁰’ and the bit Q1 having ahigh level may be included into the data BL1 to define occurrence of twoor three fail bits.

The bit Q2 may represent a binary number ‘2²+2¹+2⁰’ and the bit Q2having a high level may be included into the data BL2 to defineoccurrence of four to seven (4 to 7) fail bits.

In the similar way, the bit Q3 having a high level may be included intothe data BL3 to define occurrence of eight to fifteen (8 to 15) failbits; the bit Q4 having a high level may be included into the data BL4to define occurrence of sixteen to thirty one (16 to 31) fail bits; andthe bit Q5 having a high level may be included into the data BL5 todefine occurrence of thirty two to sixty three (32 to 63) fail bits.

The corrected counting signal Q<0:5>, within which all bits have a lowlevel may be assigned to the data BL<0:5> to define no occurrence of afail bit.

The above described example may be merely an example of the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5> assigned as the fail flag to the data BL<0:5>corresponding to the input/output pad DQ0. However, differentinput/output pad may be utilized. Further, occurrence of greater numberof fail bits may be defined when a circuit configuration is made toincrease a number of bits within the counting signal A<0:K>.

Hereinafter, described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 will be a methodof managing a redundancy memory cell in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a representation of an example of amethod of managing a redundancy memory cell in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating arepresentation of an example of a method of background write and scan ofa redundancy memory cell array illustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is adiagram illustrating a representation of an example of a fail flagoutput scheme illustrated in FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 7, preceding operations (e.g., background writeoperation and scan operation) for managing fail information may beperformed (S101).

Referring to FIG. 8, in the background write operation, the host 200 mayprovide the semiconductor apparatus 300 with the write command and thewrite data of a predetermined pattern (e.g., all ‘0’ or all ‘1’)sequentially for addresses Address #0 to #4 and the semiconductorapparatus 300 may write the write data into redundancy memory cellscorresponding to the addresses Address #0 to #4 within the redundancymemory cell array 302 according to the write command.

In the scan operation, the host 200 may provide the semiconductorapparatus 300 with a read command sequentially for the addresses Address#0 to #4 and the semiconductor apparatus 300 may read data fromredundancy memory cells corresponding to the addresses Address #0 to #4within the redundancy memory cell array 302 according to the readcommand.

Then, a fail bit counting operation may be performed (S102). In the failbit counting operation, the read data read from the redundancy memorycell array 302 may be compared with the write data and a number of failbits, which are different from each other between the read data and thewrit data, may be counted. The fail bit counter 320 may perform the failbit counting operation.

In subsequent steps S103 to S107-1, as one or more fail bits occur, thecorrected counting signal Q<0:5> may be output as the fail flag throughthe data BL<0:5> corresponding to the input/output pad DQ0 andcorresponding addresses may be distinctively stored, according to anumber of fail bits, into the first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m tothe (n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m.

Prior to the description about the subsequent steps S103 to S107-1,described with reference to FIG. 9 will be an example of an operation ofoutputting the fail flag to the host 200 through the data BL<0:5>corresponding to the input/output pad DQ0 as one or more fail bitsoccur.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, it is assumed that numbers of fail bitscorresponding to the addresses Address #0 to #4 are 4, 0, 1 and 8,respectively.

The number of fail bits corresponding to the address Address #0 may be 4and thus only the bit Q2 may have a high level within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>. Therefore, the fail flag may be generatedaccording to the bit Q2 having a high level at a time pointcorresponding to the data BL2 defining the occurrence of 4 to 7 failbits among the data BL<0:5>.

The number of fail bits corresponding to the address Address #1 may be 0and thus all the bits may have a low level within the corrected countingsignal Q<0:5>. Therefore, the fail flag might not be generated bykeeping sections of the data BL<0:5> to a low level.

The number of fail bits corresponding to the address Address #2 may be 1and thus only the bit Q0 may have a high level within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>. Therefore, the fail flag may be generatedaccording to the bit Q0 having a high level at a time pointcorresponding to the data BL0 defining the occurrence of a single failbit among the data BL<0:5>.

The number of fail bits corresponding to the address Address #3 may be 2and thus only the bit Q1 may have a high level within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>. Therefore, the fail flag may be generatedaccording to the bit Q1 having a high level at a time pointcorresponding to the data BL1 defining the occurrence of 2 or 3 failbits among the data BL<0:5>.

The number of fail bits corresponding to the address Address #4 may be 8and thus only the bit Q3 may have a high level within the correctedcounting signal Q<0:5>. Therefore, the fail flag may be generatedaccording to the bit Q3 having a high level at a time pointcorresponding to the data BL3 defining the occurrence of 8 to 15 failbits among the data BL<0:5>.

Referring back to FIG. 7, it may be determined whether a number of failbits, which is counted in step S102, is ‘0’ (S103).

When the counted number of fail bits is determined as ‘0’ in step S103,a corresponding address may be stored in the first register group REG1-1 to REG 1-m (S103-1).

Here, the fail flag might not be generated when the counted number offail bits is determined as ‘0’.

In step S103-1, a first address corresponding to the counted number offail bits determined as ‘0’ may be stored in a register REG 1-1 withinthe first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m. Whenever a subsequentaddress corresponding to the counted number of fail bits determined as‘0’ occurs as the scan operation keeps being performed, the subsequentaddress may be stored in the first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m inan ascending order from a register REG 1-2 to a register REG 1-m.

When the counted number of fail bits is determined not as ‘0’ in stepS103, it may be determined whether a number of fail bits, which iscounted in step S102, is ‘1’ (S104).

When the counted number of fail bits is determined as ‘1’ in step S104,the fail bit may be generated in the data BL0 corresponding to theinput/output pad DQ0 and a corresponding address may be stored in thesecond register group REG 2-1 to REG 2-m (refer to FIG. 2) (S104-1).

In step S104-1, a first address corresponding to the counted number offail bits determined as ‘1’ may be stored in a register REG 2-1 withinthe second register group REG 2-1 to REG 2-m. Whenever a subsequentaddress corresponding to the counted number of fail bits determined as‘1’ occurs as the scan operation keeps being performed, the subsequentaddress may be stored in the second register group REG 2-1 to REG 2-m inan ascending order from a register REG 2-2 to a register REG 2-m.

When the counted number of fail bits is determined not as ‘1’ in stepS104, it may be determined whether a number of fail bits, which iscounted in step S102, is ‘2’ or ‘3’ (S105).

When the counted number of fail bits is determined as ‘2’ or ‘3’ in stepS105, the fail bit may be generated in the data BL1 corresponding to theinput/output pad DQ0 and a corresponding address may be stored in thethird register group REG 3-1 to REG 3-m (refer to FIG. 2) (S105-1).

In step S105-1, a first address corresponding to the counted number offail bits determined as ‘2’ or ‘3’ may be stored in a register REG 3-1within the third register group REG 3-1 to REG 3-m. Whenever asubsequent address corresponding to the counted number of fail bitsdetermined as ‘2’ or ‘3’ occurs as the scan operation keeps beingperformed, the subsequent address may be stored in the third registergroup REG 3-1 to REG 3-m in an ascending order from a register REG 3-2to a register REG 3-m.

When the counted number of fail bits is determined not as ‘2’ or ‘3’ instep S105, it may be determined whether a number of fail bits, which iscounted in step S102, is ‘4’ to ‘7’ (S106).

When the counted number of fail bits is determined as ‘4’ to ‘7’ in stepS106, the fail bit may be generated in the data BL2 corresponding to theinput/output pad DQ0 and a corresponding address may be stored in thefourth register group REG 4-1 to REG 4-m (refer to FIG. 2) (S106-1).

In step S106-1, a first address corresponding to the counted number offail bits determined as ‘4’ to ‘7’ may be stored in a register REG 4-1within the fourth register group REG 4-1 to REG 4-m. Whenever asubsequent address corresponding to the counted number of fail bitsdetermined as ‘4’ to ‘7’ occurs as the scan operation keeps beingperformed, the subsequent address may be stored in the fourth registergroup REG 4-1 to REG 4-m in an ascending order from a register REG 4-2to a register REG 4-m.

When the counted number of fail bits is determined not as ‘4’ to ‘7’ instep S106, it may be determined whether a number of fail bits, which iscounted in step S102, is ‘8’ to ‘15’ (S107).

When the counted number of fail bits is determined as ‘8’ to ‘15’ instep S107, the fail bit may be generated in the data BL3 correspondingto the input/output pad DQ0 and a corresponding address may be stored inthe fifth register group REG 5-1 to REG 5-m (refer to FIG. 2) (S107-1).

In step S107-1, a first address corresponding to the counted number offail bits determined as ‘8’ to ‘15’ may be stored in a register REG 5-1within the fifth register group REG 5-1 to REG 5-m. Whenever asubsequent address corresponding to the counted number of fail bitsdetermined as ‘8’ to ‘15’ occurs as the scan operation keeps beingperformed, the subsequent address may be stored in the fifth registergroup REG 5-1 to REG 5-m in an ascending order from a register REG 5-2to a register REG 5-m.

The host 200 may determine the reliability (i.e., operation performance)of a redundancy memory cell according to a location where acorresponding address is stored among the first register group REG 1-1to REG 1-m to the (n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m of theregister array 201.

When it is decided to repair the normal memory cells, the host 200 maypreferentially utilize the addresses stored in the first register groupREG 1-1 to REG 1-m. When all the addresses stored in the first registergroup REG 1-1 to REG 1-m are utilized, the host 200 may then utilize theaddresses stored in the second register group REG 2-1 to REG 2-m to the(n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m in an ascending order ofthe register groups.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a representation of an example of aconfiguration of a semiconductor system in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, the corrected counting signal Q<0:K> maybe included as the fail flag into the data BL<0:5> corresponding to theinput/output pad DQ0 and may be provided to the host 200.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure related toFIG. 10, the corresponding addresses may be distinctively stored,according to the corrected counting signal Q<0:K>, into a first registergroup REG 1-1 to REG 1-m to a (n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REGn-m of a register array 404 within a semiconductor apparatus 400 and arepair operation may be performed on the basis of the addresses storedin the register groups of the register array 404 within thesemiconductor apparatus 400. Therefore, there is no need to provide afail flag to an external of the semiconductor apparatus 400.

Referring to FIG. 10, in accordance with an embodiment, thesemiconductor apparatus 400 may include a normal memory cell array 401,a redundancy memory cell array 402, a fail information control circuit403, a register array 404, a test circuit 405 and a repair circuit 406.

The normal memory cell array 401, the redundancy memory cell array 402,the fail information control circuit 403 and the register array 404 maybe configured in the same way respectively as the normal memory cellarray 301, the redundancy memory cell array 302, the fail informationcontrol circuit 303 and the register array 201 illustrated in FIG. 1,and may operate in the same way as described with reference to FIGS. 1to 9.

The repair circuit 406 may include a one-time programmable (OTP) memory407 and a program circuit 408.

The OTP memory 407 may be configured in the same way as the OTP memory304 illustrated in FIG. 1.

The program circuit 408 may program a defective address into the OTPmemory 407.

The program circuit 408 may program a defective address into the OTPmemory 407 by selectively rupture electrical fuses of the OTP memory407.

A fuse rupture operation is an operation of breaking a gate insulatinglayer of a transistor configuring an electrical fuse by applying a highvoltage to the electrical fuse. A defective address may be programmedthrough a selective rupture operation suitable for a value of thedefective address on the plurality of electrical fuses.

The repair circuit 406 may control an operation of programming adefective address into the OTP memory 407 and an operation of accessingan address corresponding to a redundancy memory cell instead of adefective address when an externally provided address is the defectiveaddress in a normal operation.

The test circuit 405 may be configured to test by itself the normalmemory cell array 401 and the redundancy memory cell array 402 withoutcontrol from an external of the semiconductor apparatus 400. Forexample, the test circuit 405 may include a built-in self-test circuit.

The test circuit 405 may store write data of a predetermined patterninto a normal memory cell and/or a redundancy memory cell correspondingto an address and may provide the fail information control circuit 403with read data output from a normal memory cell and/or a redundancymemory cell.

The test circuit 405 may store addresses corresponding to read data intoa selected one among the first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m to the(n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-m of the register array 404,the selected register group corresponding to the corrected countingsignal Q<0:K> output from the fail information control circuit 403.

The test circuit 405 may determine the reliability (i.e., operationperformance) of redundancy memory cells according to locations whereaddresses corresponding to the redundancy memory cells are stored amongthe first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m to the (n-1)^(th) registergroup REG n-1 to REG n-m of the register array 404.

When it is decided to replace the normal memory cells, the test circuit405 may control the repair circuit 406 to preferentially utilize theaddresses stored in the first register group REG 1-1 to REG 1-m.

When all the addresses stored in the first register group REG 1-1 to REG1-m are utilized, the test circuit 405 may then control the repaircircuit 406 to utilize the addresses stored in the second register groupREG 2-1 to REG 2-m to the (n-1)^(th) register group REG n-1 to REG n-min an ascending order of the register groups.

While various embodiments have been described above, it will beunderstood to those skilled in the art that the embodiments describedare by way of example only. Accordingly, the semiconductor apparatus andsemiconductor system including the same should not be limited based onthe described embodiments. Rather, the semiconductor apparatus andsemiconductor system including the same described herein should only belimited in light of the claims that follow when taken in conjunctionwith the above description and accompanying drawings.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor system comprising: asemiconductor apparatus including a normal memory cell array and aredundancy memory cell array for repairing a defective cell among memorycells within the normal memory cell array, and configured to output toan external a fail flag generated according to a number of fail bitswithin read data output from the redundancy memory cell array; and ahost configured to store an address corresponding to the read data intoa selected register group from among a plurality of register groups, theselected register group from among the plurality of register groupsbeing matched to the fail flag.
 2. The semiconductor system of claim 1,wherein the semiconductor apparatus is configured to include the failflag into a burst length, which is output through a data input/outputpad from among a plurality of data input/output pads.
 3. Thesemiconductor system of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor apparatus isconfigured to include the fail flag into a burst length, which is outputthrough a data input/output pad from among a plurality of datainput/output pads, and wherein the number of fail bits is differentlydefined according to an order in which the fail flag is included withinthe burst length.
 4. The semiconductor system of claim 1, wherein thesemiconductor apparatus is configured to generate a counting signal bycounting a number of fail bits through comparison between write data andthe read data and configured to generate a corrected counting signal bycorrecting the counting signal.
 5. The semiconductor system of claim 4,wherein the semiconductor apparatus is configured to include, as thefail flag, the corrected counting signal into a burst length outputthrough a data input/output pad from among a plurality of datainput/output pads.
 6. The semiconductor system of claim 4, wherein thecorrected counting signal is generated by resetting, to a low level,remaining bits other than a most significant bit having a high levelamong a plurality of bits of the counting signal.
 7. The semiconductorsystem of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor apparatus is configured togenerate a counting signal by counting a number of fail bits throughcomparison between write data and the read data, and wherein thesemiconductor apparatus is configured to generate a corrected countingsignal by resetting, to a low level, remaining bits other than a mostsignificant bit having a high level among a plurality of bits of thecounting signal.
 8. The semiconductor system of claim 1, wherein thesemiconductor apparatus further includes: a comparison circuitconfigured to generate a comparison result signal by comparing writedata with the read data; a fail bit counter configured to generate acounting signal by counting the comparison result signal; and a countingsignal correction circuit configured to reset, to a low level, remainingbits other than a most significant bit having a high level among aplurality of bits of the counting signal and configured to output thecounting signal including the reset bits as a corrected counting signal.9. The semiconductor system of claim 1, wherein the host is configuredto store, according to the fail flag, an address corresponding to nofail bit or a smallest number of fail bits into a first one among asequence of the plurality of register groups, and wherein the host isconfigured to store, according to the fail flag, an addresscorresponding to a relatively greater number of fail bits than theaddress stored in the first register group into a register groupsubsequent to the first register group among the sequence of theplurality of register groups.
 10. The semiconductor system of claim 1,wherein the host is configured to preferentially utilize, when repairingthe memory cells within the normal memory cell array, an address storedin a first one among a sequence of the plurality of register groups. 11.The semiconductor system of claim 1, wherein the fail flag indicates tothe host which register group to select from the plurality of registergroups to store the address, corresponding to the number of fail bitswithin the read data, into.
 12. A semiconductor apparatus comprising: anormal memory cell array; a redundancy memory cell array for repairing adefective cell among memory cells within the normal memory cell array; afail information control circuit configured to generate information on anumber of fail bits within read data output from a memory cell withinthe redundancy memory cell array; a register array including a pluralityof register groups; and a test circuit configured to store write datainto the memory cell within the redundancy memory cell array, configuredto control the memory cell within the redundancy memory cell array tooutput the read data, and configured to store an address correspondingto the read data into a selected register group from among the pluralityof register groups, the selected register group from among the pluralityof register groups corresponding to the information on the number offail bits within the read data.
 13. The semiconductor apparatus of claim12, wherein the fail information control circuit includes: a comparisoncircuit configured to generate a comparison result signal by comparingthe write data with the read data; a fail bit counter configured togenerate a counting signal by counting the comparison result signal; anda counting signal correction circuit configured to generate a correctedcounting signal by resetting, to a low level, remaining bits other thana most significant bit having a high level among a plurality of bits ofthe counting signal and configured to output the corrected countingsignal as the information on the number of fail bits within the readdata.
 14. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 12, wherein the testcircuit includes a built-in self-test circuit.
 15. The semiconductorapparatus of claim 12, wherein the test circuit is configured to store,according to the information on the number of fail bits within the readdata, an address corresponding to no fail bit or a smallest number offail bits into a first one among a sequence of the plurality of registergroups, and wherein the test circuit is configured to store, accordingto the information on the number of fail bits within the read data, anaddress corresponding to a relatively greater number of fail bits thanthe address stored in the first register group into a register groupsubsequent to the first register group among the sequence of theplurality of register groups.
 16. The semiconductor apparatus of claim12, further comprising a repair circuit configured to control anoperation of programming a defective address corresponding to thedefective cell into a one-time programmable (OTP) memory and anoperation of accessing an address corresponding to the memory cellwithin the redundancy memory cell array instead of the defective addresswhen an externally provided address is the defective address in a normaloperation.
 17. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 16, wherein the testcircuit is configured to control the repair circuit to preferentiallyutilize, when repairing the memory cells within the normal memory cellarray, an address stored in a first one among a sequence of theplurality of register groups.
 18. The semiconductor apparatus of claim12, wherein the number of fail bits determines which register group isselected, by the test circuit, from the plurality of register groups, tostore the address, corresponding to the number of fail bits within theread data, into.